General Sleep Statistics:

- Up to 15% of people are Sleepwalking.

- about 15% of people have restless leg syndrome

- Vehicular crashes are the third leading cause of death and injury in the

USA, and up to 20% of them are sleep related

- Untreated sleep apnea causes 500,000 motor vehicle crashes annually

- One in 20 men has sleep apnea

- Seizures occur more commonly during sleep than during waking hours

- Many tranquilizers actually decrease deeper stages of sleep that are

required for the restoration and fresh feeling in the morning

- Sleep loss of four hours is equivalent to being drunk with a blood alcohol

level of 0.1%

- One-third of young adults are pathologically sleepy during the day

- Sleep problems add an estimated $15.9 billion to national health care costs

• sources: Sleep Disorders Center study.

Insomnia Statistics

- 20-40% of all adults have insomnia in the course of any year

- 1 out of 3 people have insomnia at some point in their lives

- Over 70 million Americans suffer from disorders of sleep and wakefulness

- Of those, 60% have a chronic disorder Read The Full Story…

To stop snoring would be a priority for health reasons alone, however there are other concerns. Could it be affecting your relationship? Over half the adults who snore sleep in separate rooms to their partners, doesn’t argue well for marital bliss does it?

Snoring can leave you tired and cranky in the morning. Follow these seven steps for sound sleep:

1. Change Sleep Position

There are many experts that recommend avoiding sleeping on the back if snoring is a problem. Changing the sleeping position can help to increase the ease of airflow that can occur through the nose, mouth and to the lungs. Therefore, sometimes, the culprit of snoring can be seen in the sleeping position. Experts recommend sleeping on your side for best results when trying to quell snoring.

2. Lose Weight

Overweight people tend have bulky neck tissue which increases snoring risk. If you are overweight, losing just modest amount of weight - even just 10% of your body weight — can help you stop snoring.

3. Use a Good Pillow

A good pillow, how old is yours? You don’t want to know what can live in old pillows! Should it be consigned to the rubbish bin? Could it be causing allergies?

4. Avoid Alcohol and Pills

Both alcohol and sleeping pills can depress your central nervous system and relax the muscles of your throat and jaw, making snoring more likely. These substances are also known to contribute to sleep apnea, a dangerous condition that has been linked with cardiovascular disease. And they should never, ever be used together. Read The Full Story…

The key to a good night’s sleep is being comfortable. The key to being comfortable is having the right mattress and finding the most comfortable position to sleep in. Your bedroom decor also plays a part in a good night’s sleep. You’re space needs to be serene and relaxing. A neutral paint palette, comfortable furniture and minimal clutter all help to create a calming space. Low profile platform beds allow you to sleep closer to the ground, reducing anxiety and putting your mind at ease. Finally, a firm, yet comfortable mattress will help ensure that you wake up well rested and ready to start your day.

A Given that lucid dreaming occurs during the REM sleep stage which typically occurs about 90 minutes after sleep onset, it’s especially important that you are comfortable from the moment your head hits the pillow. Here are a couple of things to consider ensuring that you are getting the most comfortable sleep possible.

Mattress Choice

• Memory Foam Mattresses: If you’re typically a restless sleeper, a memory or latex foam mattress is the best bet for a lucid dreamer. The visco foam found in most memory foam mattresses hugs the contours of your body, helping to eliminate tossing and turning as well as relieving pressure points and aiding in proper spinal alignment, whatever position you’re sleeping in.
• Innerspring/Coil Mattresses: Innerspring mattresses provide more than adequate support and have been known to help alleviate back pain. The coils help to ensure that body weight is evenly distributed, supporting the lower back and preventing your shoulders and waist from sinking and causing discomfort.

Another key to a good night’s sleep is making sure that you’re sleeping in a healthy position. There’s a correct way to position yourself, whether you sleep on your stomach, side or back. Read The Full Story…

Restless legs syndrome (RLS) causes an unpleasant prickling or
tingling in the legs, especially in the calves, that is relieved by moving
or massaging them. This sensation creates a need to stretch or move
the legs to get rid of these uncomfortable or painful feelings. As a
result, a person may have difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep.
One or both legs may be affected. In some people, the sensations
are also felt in the arms. These sensations can also occur with lying
down or sitting for prolonged periods of time, such as while at a
desk, riding in a car, or watching a movie. Read The Full Story…

Myth 1: Sleep is a time when your body and brain shut down for rest and relaxation.
No evidence shows that any major organ (including the brain) or regulatory system in the body shuts down during sleep. Some physiological processes actually become more active while you sleep. For example, secretion of certain hormones is boosted, and activity of the pathways in the brain needed for learning and
memory is heightened.
Myth 2: Getting just 1 hour less sleep per night than needed will not have any effect on your daytime functioning. This lack of sleep may not make you noticeably sleepy during the day. But even slightly less sleep can affect your ability to think properly and respond quickly, and it can compromise your
cardiovascular health and energy balance as well as the ability to fight infections, particularly if lack of sleep continues. If you consistently do not get enough sleep, eventually a sleep debt builds up that will make you excessively tired during the day.
Myth 3: Your body adjusts quickly to different sleep schedules. Your biological clock makes you most alert during the daytime and most drowsy at night. Thus, even if you work the night shift, you will naturally feel sleepy when nighttime comes. Most people can reset their biological clock, but only by appropriately timed cues—and even then, by 1–2 hours per day at best. Consequently, it can take more than a week to adjust to a dramatically altered sleep/wake cycle, such as you encounter when traveling across several time zones or switching from working the day shift to the night shift.

Myth 4: People need less sleep as they get older. Older people don’t need less sleep, but they often get less sleep or find their sleep less refreshing. That’s because as people age, they spend less time in the deep, restful stages of sleep and are more easily awakened. Older people are also more likely to have insomnia or other medical conditions that disrupt their sleep. Read The Full Story…

There are a number of reasons why sleep problems can develop:
1. Normal effects of ageing - as mentioned, when people get older they tend to sleep less deeply and need less sleep. Not only this, but sometimes people develop a habit of dropping off to
sleep during the day which again reduces the need for sleep at night. This in itself is not a problem, but often not sleeping becomes a greater cause for worry, frustration and concern, which in turn leads to sleeping less well.

2. Medical reasons for disrupted sleep - medical reasons for poor sleep may or may not be related to getting older. Some examples are:
The need to go to the toilet during the night occurs more in later life. About 60% of women and about 70% of men, aged over 65 get out of bed at least once a night to go to the toilet. This can also happen for other reasons of course, such as pregnancy. Getting out of bed at night isn`t always a great problem, but can be frustrating if it is difficult to get back to sleep.
Another medical reason is pain. This again can be common in older age with joint pains such as arthritis. The emotional upset of loss or bereavement can affect sleep and again this may be more common in older people. Some medicines can interfere with sleep, so it is worth checking with your doctor if you are on any tablets. Read The Full Story…

- You consistently take more than 30 minutes

each night to fall asleep.

- You consistently awaken several times each

night and then have trouble falling back to sleep,

or you awaken too early in the morning.

- You often feel sleepy during the day, you take

frequent naps, or you fall asleep at inappropriate

times during the day.

- Your bed partner says that when you sleep, you

snore loudly, snort, gasp, make choking sounds,

or stop breathing for short periods.

- You have creeping, tingling, or crawling feelings

in your legs or arms that are relieved by moving

or massaging them, especially in the evening

and when trying to fall asleep.

- Your bed partner notices that your legs or

arms jerk often during sleep.

- You have vivid, dreamlike experiences while

falling asleep or dozing. Read The Full Story…

Stop snoring exercises that help make stronger and tone the muscles in the throat, can help ease snoring. In order to understand why stop snoring exercises may help, it is first important to understand what causes snoring. Snoring occurs when the upper airway, in other words, the throat, becomes partially blocked during sleep. This occurs when the muscles relax, allowing tissue to partially block the throat. The sound of air vibrating against this tissue is called snoring.

Here are 10 snoring exercises to improving throat strength/toning throat muscles:

• Stop Snoring Exercise #1: Begin a General Fitness Routine. Reduce your intake of junk foods and try to exercise your body at least thirty minutes per day, five days per week. A brisk walk in the park with a friend is fine. Other people enjoy weight training, bicycling, swimming, etc. As you lose weight, you neck will diminish in size and your throat will expand. This in itself will bring about a decrease in your snoring thus a home snoring remedy.

• Stop Snoring Exercise #2 The pencil. Take a pencil and hold it between the teeth for up to 5 minutes. The grip should be firm, but not painful at all.

• Stop Snoring Exercise #3 The mouth. Move your lower and upper molars together, very gently. Open your mouth while pressing your molars as far apart as you can without doing any stretching. Do these exercises for 3 - 5 minutes, focusing on your molars, keep bringing them together and the lowering your jaw. When you get half way through your set, you will notice that the back of your mouth opening up more.

• Stop Snoring Exercise #4 Sing. Try to sing for at least twenty minutes a day. There are a few stop snoring exercise programs that offer CDs to teach you specific snore-reducing singing exercises. You can certainly purchase them if you wish. But singing of any kind tones and exercises the throat, so belt along with your favorite R & B singer or throw your voice into those old 80s rock hits. If you’re not confident about your voice, great places to sing include the shower and the car. Read The Full Story…
  

Missing out on rest can harm brain cell making.

Missing out on sleep may cause the brain to stop producing new cells show a new study.

A team from Princeton University found a lack of sleep affected the hippocampus, a brain region involved in forming memories. The research in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science showed a stress hormone causes the effect. UK expert said it would be interesting to see if too little rather than no sleep had the same consequence.

The researchers compared animals that were deprived of sleep for 72 hours with others who were not.

They found those who missed out on rest had higher levels of the stress hormone corticosterone.

They also produced significantly fewer new brain cells in a particular region of the hippocampus.

When the animals’ corticosterone levels were kept at a constant level, the reduction in cell proliferation was abolished. Read The Full Story…

Between 20 to 40 percent of adults snore. It is a problem if you are disturbing yourself or your sleep partner. Snoring stops sleep patterns, which can cause to sleep deficit. The effects of sleep deficit can include low energy, foggy thinking and daytime sleepiness. The absence of oxygen flowing to the brain that occurs when someone snores can lead to diabetes, high blood pressure and stroke.

To find the cure for the problem of snoring, there are many stop snoring devices. Most of them are specific to the problem so before the use of any stop snoring device, it is always a good idea to understand the reasons behind snoring.

The Noiselezz is a non-intrusive mouthpiece that holds the lower jaw slightly forward of its normal position during sleep, thus opening the airway in the throat and eliminating the vibration that causes snoring.

SomnoGuard stops snoring and reduces nocturnal respiratory arrests, and thereby improves the quality of sleep. The oral appliance worn at night is made from thermoflexible copolymers. It can be directly moulded in the mouth after being heated in boiling water. It’s main effect is the advancement of the lower jaw, thereby opening the upper airway. Fitting is quite simple, does not require any special tools, and can be completed within a few minutes.

Read The Full Story…